Latest Greatest Garden Updates

No matter what good plans I set to write more often. Something always gets in the say. Do I start all my posts with similar apologies?

I am really happy with my gardens. For just having been started this spring, they are filling in quite well. All of the following are in front of our house. Remember, when I started in April, there was nothing here but grass...

(Click on the photos to see larger, clearer images.)

The North Bed
West Side


Central Area


Southeast Corner



Complete Northern Bed


From the South (sunnier) Bed
Northwest Corner


Northern Half of the Bed


Northwest Corner, one of my favorites


North central


Center of the bed


West side of the South Bed


Southwest corner


Southern half of the South Bed


So that's it. I gave up trying to get one photo of the whole bed so you get it in pieces. I enjoy strolling through my "vast acreage" several times a day to see what's new. I'm never disappointed. Weeding is also easy when you weed as you go as it grows.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour. Next time, I'll show you the back veggie gardens.

A Free Giveaway from a Clever Artist

Here is a blog I just discovered today that has a Free Giveaway going. This gal is a talented multi-faceted artist and I like her work. This is such a clever way to spread the word about the her work and her blog.

Dew

What is so lovely as dew, always the same, always vastly different. Here are a few samples mostly from my veggie beds. Click on image for a better, larger view.

[Addition 7-17-09: This also qualifies as Blackswamp_Girl's Foliage Friday entry.]

A cabbage leaf:


Another cabbage leaf:


Billions and billions of droplets on grass:


Radishes:


And one from the flower bed, a Lady's Mantle:

Chomper's Return

Chomper (he now has a name) is back. I found the tell-tale signs of his presence this morning during my walk about.



Upper left - Sedum 'Blue Spruce' blossom chomped
Upper middle - Pansy1, 2 blossoms chomped
Upper right - Gaura Pink, blossom chomped
Lower left - Pansy2, 4 blossoms chomped
Lower middle - Creeping Jenny, new leaves chomped (third time)
Lower right - Carnation - blossom bud chomped

I think we see a pattern here and also the signs of an epicurean palate. I think he/she also has large ears and a fluffy tail. So instead of Chomper 1, a chipmunk,
I think this is Chomper 2, a RABBIT!!!

Time to get the Liquid Fence out again.

A Shady Project

A friend of mine gave me some beautiful large hostas. I knew one of my front perennial beds had way too much sun. I was afraid the other did too so I needed shady space for hostas.

Remedy, build one, put it on the north side of the house which has no yard at all because the drive-way is right against the house.

I had a bunch of left-overs. Some left over cement block (from the raised veggie beds), some landscape timbers (from my first bed edging idea), some weed barrier cloth (also from the raised veggie beds), and some extra soil mix. Sooooooo...

First, a layer of concrete 1/2 blocks for good drainage and sturdy base.
Second, landscape timbers in a small rectangle 4 deep(approx 2' x 4').
Third, line the container/raised bed with weed block fabric to hold the soil but allow drainage.
Fourth, fill with good soil mix.
Fifth, plant with shady plants.

Here's the results.


Add a few plants.


And VOILA!!


Oh yes, there is also a left-over amaryllis sitting on the back rim of this little bed. He's still nice and green. Any suggestions on how to make him bloom next winter?

Home Again.....

No photos. Let your mind create the images....

We've been so overjoyed with the sounds of cardinals and blue jays all around us. Sounds of a mid-west summer day. Warm summer days with gentle breezes bringing relief from the heat. We had really missed it all.

Tonight at dusk, we were sitting on our front deck, surrounded by my new flower gardens and being guarded by Craggy. No sunset tonight. Too much overcast, still waiting for rain. The bzhing birds were singing. That's what we call a night bird that flies around calling BZHING. (I think it's actually a night hawk.) It's the sound of a warm summer night. We also heard a few rain birds... robins doing a particular pre-rain song. Very homey sounds for both of us.

We also were enjoying the sound of small children playing with parents a few doors down from us as dusk was turning to night. So nice to see so many children playing outdoors instead of inside on electronic games.

And then..... we saw our first lightning bug!!! And then two more. We're definitely home and it's definitely summer and it's been nearly 10 years.

Puget Sound is a magical place to live. The wildlife is unbelievable and the people (at least on Whidbey Island) are very gentle and loving. It's a photographer's paradise with no end of subject matter. I took two years of Qigong, which changed my life. We had to leave very dear friends... people who were more than friends really. It was a period of time that I wouldn't have missed for anything.

But it's good to be home again.

New Member of the Front Garden

Here is a new member of my front perennial bed home taken 2 days ago. Notice the little buds around the main blossom.


Here is the same blossom with three buds opened around it. This shows the true color of the rose.


And at last, may I present Cinco De Mayo, a truly lovely rose with a delicate but lovely scent.